With universities all over the world looking to quickly move face-to-face classes online, massive open online course companies Coursera and edX have stepped in to offer access to their vast portfolios of course content.

Coursera announced today it will provide the Coursera for Campus platform free to higher education institutions impacted by coronavirus. "Universities can sign up to provide their enrolled students with access to more than 3,800 courses and 400 specializations from Coursera's top university and industry partners," explained Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda, in a blog post. The access will last through the end of July, at which point the company said it will "provide month-to-month extensions depending on prevailing risk assessments." And students who enroll in Coursera courses on or before July 31 will retain access until Sept. 30, 2020.

For its part, edX has launched a Remote Access Program for its global university partner community, giving students free access to courses and programs from all edX partners participating in the initiative. "We want to help our university partners best support their students during this tough time," said edX CEO Anant Agarwal, in a blog post. "We believe that by sharing access to content across a global group of universities, we can unite like-minded students and instructors to learn as a digital community."